


Trust exercise

by Huggy6ear_Angel



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Aro (Twilight) - Freeform, Aro and Carlisle are soulmates, Gen, Light Angst, Non-Graphic Violence, The Volturi (Twilight) - Freeform, Worldbuilding, background Aro/Carlisle, but only briefly, day in the life, fighting scene, implied erotic scene but Carlisle is not involved, many other guards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29682789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huggy6ear_Angel/pseuds/Huggy6ear_Angel
Summary: "Figure it out," Aro had told them and walked out of the room, raising one palm up to shut down their arguments.Caius and Carlisle shared an uncertain look. A few moments passed in tense silence. Carlisle refused to be the one to talk first.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Trust exercise

**Author's Note:**

> Folks, I don't know how this came to be, all I can hope is that you enjoy the ride.

Caius sighed, unfolded his arms from his chest. "There is a trust exercise I have all the guards complete. If you are serious, as much as he is," he tilted his head to the side towards the door where Aro had exited, "find me in two days time."

"Trust exercise?" Carlisle asked, half worried, half curious.

Caius nodded. "Were you under the impression that the guards come to trust us easily? This is an army, Carlisle, anyone would be hesitant. The strength of an army comes from trust in one another."

Carlisle was looking at him, "But I am not a guard."

"I've never done this with someone who wasn't almost a guard. I too have my doubts." Caius spread his hands. "But it _is_ called a trust exercise."

Carlisle was wearing a hesitant smile, he didn't necessarily enjoy being treated differently than the other vampires in the palace. In his mind he had done nothing to deserve it.

Caius nodded, fixed his cloak better around his shoulders. "Two days," he said and left Carlisle alone.

Carlisle watched with a calm smile as Caius closed the door behind him and as soon as was alone, he let his expression show. He was nervous, scared. A trust exercise? He trusted but a few guards. He especially didn't trust Caius. He was always receiving strange looks from the guards, more so from Caius' guards. He tried to calm himself, two days is a long time, and Aro would surely not let anything happen to him.

Right?

Carlisle didn't know. He didn't know anything at all actually. He had returned from Sorbonne only a week ago and he was still getting used to being showered with attention again. He wasn't secure enough to put his trust in Caius. He wasn't even sure why he felt he could put his trust in Aro.

No, that was a lie.

He knew very well why he trusted Aro, why he would go to the ends of the world for him, why he would do anything to-

No, he had to stop thinking about this. That is why he had gone to France; it was an attempt to clear his head. But even then, he missed the older vampire terribly. He missed talking to him about whatever new thing he learned, he missed their philosophical debates -the men in France were not nearly as fun to argue with- he missed Aro's smile, he missed his touch.

And here he was again, back in Volterra, choking with emotions he didn't quite recognise. He wanted so desperately to be alone with Aro, that he forbade himself from acting it. He wondered if Aro had noticed...

Probably.

What did he think of it? God, please don't let him think Carlisle was avoiding him.

Even though he was.

What kind of exercise was it?

* *

"Aro, be away from the palace two days from now." Caius had found Aro in the library, standing over Carlisle's favourite desk.

"Why?" Aro asked without turning to face his brother.

"With a heavy heart, and a hesitant mind, I will do the guard training with him."

"Oh?" he turned to face Caius, frowning. No, there was no way Caius would go as far as the one-on-one. "With the blades?"

"I suppose I must. I should be able to trust him too."

Aro was pleased that Caius was willing to put effort into building a relationship with his soulmate. But then, gods, if the exercise failed.

No, it wouldn't fail.

But if it did?

There weren't many instances of failure, only a few. But that was mostly thanks to Caius, who proceeded to this test only when he felt sure in the guard's abilities and loyalties. This now, with Carlisle, would be slightly forced. The other times when the guard failed to complete the day, the leaders simply never sent them to missions, they didn't let them close, they kept them as soldiers indefinitely.

Carlisle would not be demoted in any case. Perhaps Caius would insist he was no longer in the palace, but he wouldn't demand anything. This was a blind leap of faith Caius was taking, fully aware that nothing would happen if things went wrong, fully aware that he would need to accept the presence of a potential high risk man within the inner chambers.

"Thank you, brother," Aro said earnestly.

Caius nodded.

"What are you doing?" he asked after a moment.

Aro sighed. He didn't want to tell Caius, not now that he was supposed to be building courage to trust. But Caius deserved to know, he thought. "He is avoiding me. I don't know why."

"Have you talked to him?" Caius asked.

* * *

Two days passed like a summer breeze and Carlisle was standing in the training room, trying to contain his nerves, waiting for Caius. Felix entered first, greeted Carlisle with a respectful bow of the head. Carlisle smiled politely at him, feeling that his heart was racing, even though it couldn't be.

Soon more guards entered, one after the other, positioned themselves strategically around the room, surrounding Carlisle.

He tried to approach one of the guards, perhaps start a conversation and was met with silence. Carlisle tried not to feel disappointed, silence was probably one of the guards' orders.

Finally Caius came, his step slow, expecting a messy scene but to his surprise the room was calm. Or not calm exactly.

He had prohibited the guards from speaking with the trainee, an order he didn't usually give. Carlisle was a different case, very social and amicable, Caius had feared his guards might hesitate in their attacks if they had the chance to talk to him.

Carlisle could feel as the guards' attention focused on the leader as soon as he stepped in the room. He felt like lowering his gaze. There was something different about him. This didn't feel like the man that vaguely disliked him. No, this man was fully indifferent to his well being, and Carlisle had never felt weaker in another man's presence.

"Carlisle, good morning. How are you feeling?” Caius asked, and Carlisle was shocked by the friendly tone.

 _I'm alright,_ he intended to say. “I'm scared,” he said instead.

“That is understandable. Let me explain what is going to happen,” Caius said, his voice still calm carefully constructed to calm frightened vampires. Carlisle felt like a child.

_This is an exercise, and you need to know that you are safe at all times. These guards are my most trusted ones, I can assure you, you are in no danger. Things will happen and your task is to allow it. You are forbidden from speaking unless I say otherwise. You are to receive orders from no one else today. If a fight is taking place next to you, you are to allow it, if a guard yells at you to duck, you stand still. You must trust that I will not let anyone here hurt you. Understood?_

Carlise nodded, not very convinced.

In any other case, the exercise included a lot of fighting and a lot of threats, but Caius had warned the guards that today, none of them were permitted to touch the training vampire. He knew that Carlisle didn't respond well to physical touch, and the entire purpose was to build trust, not shatter it.

_I am aware of your inability to wrestle, therefore, you are not to fight today. You must trust that if there is an attack coming at you, a guard will arrive in time to protect you._

Caius had selected the guards for this very, very carefully. They had to be excellent and fast and they had to know how to work together. Vampires tended to get carried away during fights and this would be unacceptable today. A single mistake could lead to disaster and no one was more nervous than Caius himself.

Caius waited until Carlisle nodded his understanding. He would have prefered if the young one had spoken. He led Carlisle to the middle of the room. “Your first task is to stand still, do not take a single step. You are not allowed to speak unless you need to call _me_. I will be standing across the room, trust I will be watching you. Understood?”

Carlisle was now more confused, but he agreed nonetheless. Caius nodded, turned away, motioning for the guards to begin. He made his way to the far corner slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on the uneasy vampire.

The guards began moving, knowing their role in the grand theatrical play very well. Carlisle was immediately worried. A lot of movement around him and he couldn't keep track of them all. There were whispers, and words spoken and he couldn't make them out, feeling like prey surrounded by predators.

He frantically looked around spotting Caius resting against the wall, his red eyes on him. His stance suggested ease, but Caius was anything but. Carlisle didn't break eye contact for a while, trying not to pay attention as he could hear some guards becoming aggressive behind him.

There were growls and hisses and Carlisle couldn't stop himself from turning this time. Caius' eyes fell to Carlisle's feet, watching if the vampire would follow the order or if his fear would overtake him. Two guards were pushing at each other, supposedly too deep into their fight to notice that they were rapidly approaching Carlisle.

The blond swallowed, risked a glance back to Caius, still at ease against the wall. Was this part of the plan? Probably. He fixed his jaw and grounded himself, allowing his body to prepare for a possible collision.

Inches before making contact with him the two vampires separated just enough to move around Carlisle before jumping at each other again. Carlisle let out a shaking breath, and slowly returned his attention to Caius, a tiny hint of a smile playing on his lips. He was starting to get it.

Soon the entire room resembled a cage of wild animals, all growling and threatening each other, and Carlisle was uncomfortable but he hoped the aggression wouldn't turn towards him. Caius made his way to him, walking slowly and Carlisle watched mesmerized as the guards moved around Caius, even in their frantic moves and his faith in all of this grew a little.

“That was good, Carlisle. I think we can move on,” Caius told him once he was in front of him. Carlisle nodded.

“From this point on, you will not be able to see. And the guards will become more violent. I will be watching over you, no one will touch you.”

Carlisle nodded, and Caius hid his disappointment. He tied a silk, black strip of fabric around Carlisle's eyes and he was immediately aware of the vampire's stress rising.

“I'll stay close to you for a minute,” he said and took a single step away from him.

To be blind and stand still was indeed strange to ask from a vampire that couldn't fight even if he needed to. Caius stayed close, and watched carefully as the room grew louder. There were punches thrown around now, skin breaking, bones cracking.

He let another moment pass before speaking.

“I'm going to move away now,” Caius said and took notice of how the vampire stiffened further. “You can call me if you need to.”

He walked among his guards-turned-actors for the day, quietly giving them more specific orders. One was supposed to be louder, the other silent and move closer to the trainee. He kept his eyes on Carlisle's frantic jumps and jittery turns of the head, noticing that the blond had in fact moved a little. He would forgive it, it wasn't intentional.

“You're doing well. Remember you are to listen to me and only me,” he said quietly enough that if Carlisle wasn't paying attention to him he wouldn't hear it. To his surprise Carlisle tilted his head to the side, tuning his hearing to Caius' voice.

 _Impressive_ , he thought. Most guards weren't so perceptive to catch his first word of encouragement.

Caius stood in the middle of a crowd of loud vampires, keeping himself quiet and watched as Carlisle went incredibly still listening for him. He wasn't focused on the fighting anymore, and barely heard two guards' yelling for him to watch out. A guard had been thrown in the air and would knock him over, Caius watched with mild concern who would take action, secure in the knowledge that if it needed be, he could put himself between Carlisle and the falling vampire.

Felix was there in an instant, jumping up and getting a hold of the airborne guard, landing them both with a loud crack, in front of Carlisle's feet.

The blond startled but didn't move. Caius smiled at Felix who pulled his opponent up.

He took a step closer, putting himself back within Carlisle's earshot and watched, very intrigued with how Carlisle had tilted his head just so, letting him know he was listening.

“Very well, Carlisle. Thank you for listening. Geralt, you are dismissed.”

The guard bowed respectfully and Caius could practically taste how every guard's excitement rose. This was a game for them. The last guard standing would firstly rise in rank, and secondly could demand _anything_ from Caius. The general was always pleased with these exercises, it was a way for him to see if he had done well in training. And the guards enjoyed them, even though the stakes were high. Or better yet, because the stakes were high.

"Carlisle, I want you to remove your shirt,” he said. The way Carlisle froze up was expected. He wanted to see if Carlisle would question him or simply obey.

A moment passed.

“Caius?” he asked at last.

Caius raised his eyebrows, constantly impressed with how well Carlisle seemed to follow orders.

“I only want you to remove your outer shirt. Exposed skin will make you feel more vulnerable, and I need you to trust me even then,” Caius explained calmly.

Carlisle seemed to think about it and Caius had already started going through possible alternatives when Carlisle quickly undid his shirt and held it to the older vampire. Caius took it and there was a guard to his side instantly to take it from him.

“Thank you,” Caius told Carlisle and put some distance between them again.

He removed his own cloak and stood to the left side of the room.

“Positions!” he spoke loud enough to be heard, but not enough to be considered shouting.

A blast of air passed through Carlisle's blond hair, his shirt stuck to his frame, as the guards immediately ceased their movements and flew to their appropriate place.

Two teams, real battle. Caius stood in the front, looked at Felix who would lead the other team.

He had talked this through with Marcus and Aro, and they had decided Felix had very much earned to lead a team. He had told him the previous night that this was not an exercise for him, he had already succeeded. There was another guard he had wanted to test, so he put him in Felix' team and he told Felix that if it came between him and the guard Wang, Felix was to step down, in an unassuming way, so that Caius could fight him.

He hadn't decided yet if he would let Wang beat him, it would depend.

He nodded to Felix, Felix nodded to him and the battle began.

Vampires ran to each other, booming sounds, grips and pulls, yells, bites and cracks, everything was allowed. Caius usually didn't need to fight at first, since the point was for the other team to get to him and his guards were doing their damndest to protect him. So his eyes kept shifting to Carlisle who seemed to be tense but interested in what was going on.

The room was blinding as the midday sun had found its way through the openings, high up in the walls. The Volturi had tried glass for the windows at first, but it quickly proved pointless. For years now, they left them open, placing wooden shutters on the frames during the winter months.

Two guards were wrestling with their teeth buried in each other's throat, they would fall into Carlisle.

Mahdish was trying to reach Carlisle to divert the two from hitting him and Caius wanted to see what he would do. There wasn't enough time to get between them and Mahdish glanced at Caius a little lost.

“Carlisle, get down,” Caius shouted and watched, fascinated at how quick Carlisle was to drop to his knees. The guard used all his strength pushing the two entagled vampires upwards and they flew over Carlisle's head, landing on the other side of the room with a deafening crack.

 _Well done,_ Caius nodded at Mahdish.

“Your teammate is down. Defend him,” Caius ordered and now the guards that were around him and taking the hits aimed at him, ran to surround Carlisle.

This was risky. Riskier than a hit landing on Caius. He didn't want to tell his guards to go easy on Carlisle's defenders, but he did hope they had the sense of mind to see it for themselves.

He was an open target himself and now some opponents took their chance to jump at him. Caius smiled, taking them down easily. Each take down from him meant another guard dismissed.

Much to his pleasure, Wang was still going strong. Caius was letting himself enjoy the fight, glancing at Carlisle's shaking form between each opponent.

While he was distracted two guards came at him, one from behind wrapping his arms around Caius's neck the other going for a “fatal” hit. Caius lifted one knee, meaning to allow the guard one hit before taking them both down, when Kori shouted.

“Sir!”

Caius was instantly on high alert, disregarding his first intention of allowing his guards to take a point from him. He had disentangled himself from the choke hold easily, and had lifted the guard from behind only to drop him on the attacker in front of him before a second had passed.

“Carlisle, on your back!” he shouted and threw himself to the unprotected (how could the guards let that happen?) vampire, putting his body between Carlisle and the offensive strike, careful not to touch him.

The hit landed squarely on his back, and he counted that as a grand victory. It would have landed on Carlisle's face otherwise.

Carlisle was trembling underneath him. A tuft of Caius' long hair slipped and swept over Carlisle's neck. The young vampire swallowed back a whimper.

“I'm sorry,” Caius said quietly, and kept still until it was safe for him to stand again. Carlisle was nodding at him, aware that he had been protected from something worse than a tickle of hair.

Caius looked around, most guards had fallen, the battle was nearing a finale. He saw Felix and Wang nodding at each other and flexed his muscles, anticipating a hit and guessing their plan.

Wang jumped at him, pushing him off the fallen teammate, masterfully avoiding touching him. Caius fell on his side, rolling over twice before regaining his balance. But it was too late. Wang was in front of him, one hand clenched in a fist, the other with tense, straight fingers, lightly touching Caius' neck. If this was a _real_ battle, Caius would have been killed.

He smiled at his guard, extremely proud at his skills and glanced at Carlisle who had Felix standing over him.

The guards who had remained ceased. The battle was over. Caius' team had lost.

“Excellent!” Caius said with a wide smile and stood. Wang bowed his head, accepting the compliment.

The leader went to Carlisle, his step light, “Carlisle, you may stand.”

The blond pushed himself up, incredibly disoriented, and tried to get his bearings but it was too loud and he was very uneasy.

“We'll do it again. Viny, you forget your back, the others know and took you down because of it. Gerah, you must look out for-'' Carlisle reached for Caius' shoulder, gripping tight. Caius raised his palm and placed it softly over Carlisle's hand, a reassurance that everything was in fact fine. “-your team more. Amara, great work. Idir, arms only now. Ali, great escaping moves. Felix, give your team more orders,” the words came flying from Caius' tongue and he passed the speech to Felix, listening to his notes, adding to them or correcting them. Carlisle slowly relaxed, coming to the conclusion that yes, actually, everything _was_ fine.

“Alright, positions!” he said once all comments had been made. He squeezed Carlisle's hand a little.

“Carlisle, we'll fight together now. Listen to my movements and follow them. If you can do it, I'd like us to be back to back, if you can't, it is fine. I will not let anyone touch you, but I need your help. Understood?”

“Yes,” Carlisle spoke for the first time in hours and Caius smiled. This was a success.

He gave the order and the battle began anew. This time the guards weren't protecting him fiercely like before. He had to fight, and twist and turn and to his disbelief, Carlisle was following his lead blindly...literally. He moved to the side when Caius ordered him to, he ducked, he jumped, he even threw a punch at Caius' order.

They went on and on, Caius coming to the conclusion that Carlisle would make an excellent guard. If of course he had wanted to. And if he _could_ be taught to fight. And if he _was_ able to follow orders he didn't agree with. A lot of _ifs_ , Caius thought.

“Halt!” he shouted when he could see the fight going nowhere. This was good. A tie was good. The guards froze, released grips and holds, relaxed fists and jaws. The day was almost done.

“Excellent work, Carlisle. You did fantastic.”

Carlisle was panting, the exertion of the battle evident on him. He wasn't used to this and the warmth of the descending sun was overwhelming instead of comforting.

He nodded, accepting the compliment.

“Walk, slowly. I'll tell you to stop,” Caius said, turning Carlisle to the correct direction.

Carlisle took a step. Then another. Then another and soon he was comfortably walking, blind, in a room full of adrenaline filled vampires. He had reached the middle of the room, when Caius told him to stop. _On your knees_ , he added as a second command.

Once again surprising Caius with his obedience, Carlisle dropped to his knees easily.

Caius paused. _Could he push it?_

“Hands behind your head,” he said after a moment's consideration. Carlisle hesitated now, but lifted his arms and tangled his fingers behind his head.

“Felix, Ziad, Theo, Sasha, Wang, Katerina, Anto, stay. The others, you are dismissed.”

The guards bowed to Caius and exited the room. Caius stretched his neck from side to side, removed his shirt and was left with bare skin. The sun was setting and the rogue rays that landed on his pale skin made his sculpted abdomen shine.

He turned to face his guards who had already paired up, knowing what was to come. He nodded for Anto to come to him. The pairs began on his mark.

This was a wrestling match, it had nothing to do with Carlisle. In fact, Caius shouldn't even check on him. But his nerves didn't let him.

He wrestled his guards, one after the other, following their rhythm, correcting them, allowing them a touchdown, maybe a single hit and then knocked them over, all the while stealing glances towards Carlisle, who was obediently still on his knees. He had put him on purpose directly under the sunlight, so his glistening skin could alert Caius of movement even if he was distracted.

Only Felix could actually wrestle him, and Caius heavily enjoyed their fights. He managed a grip that could have Caius flat on his back and let go, letting Caius beat him. Caius would have taken offence, but that is what they had agreed upon. Wang was the only who was supposed to beat Caius that day. And when it was his turn, Caius gave his best theatrical performance and still allowed Wang to pin him down. He tapped out and Wang smiled widely, thinking he won fairly. Caius smiled at him, proud and satisfied. It was important that his guards believed they _could_ be good enough to beat him. Even though after this fight, Caius wouldn't let Wang win for a few years. If he succeeded on his own, then sure. But such a thing hadn't happened yet.

He congratulated his guards, commending them on their advanced skills, promising them an entire week free. He told Wang to stay a moment, the rest were dismissed.

He glanced at Carlisle, assessing his state and finding it acceptable.

“Wang, your performance was outstanding. You have earned yourself a reward. You may take your time to decide,” Caius said, keeping the pretense of formality as if they weren't on top of each other, skin on skin, moments ago.

“Thank you sir,” Wang said with a satisfied smile.

“Have you got one in mind?”

“I do, sir.”

“Name it.” Caius nodded, listening carefully.

Wang looked at Carlisle, there was no way for him to know whether Carlisle was listening to them. He lowered his voice anyway, speaking so quietly Caius had to lean closer.

“I want _you_ , sir.”

Caius blinked, taken by surprise.

_Oh._

He nodded and dismissed the guard.

Caius walked to Carlisle, making his steps purposefully loud. He was thinking, should he keep at it, or call it complete? Carlisle had responded in a strangely positive manner, and he truly hadn't been hurt at all.

“Carlisle,” Caius began. Carlisle straightened his back, signaling he was listening.

“How are you feeling?” Caius asked.

Carlisle hesitated for a moment, seeming to choke on his words. “I'm alright.” He managed at last.

“There is one last thing, and then the day is over. Do you feel you can endure?” Caius asked, using the same calm voice he was using when the day began, trying to ease the vampire.

“I can.” That was all Carlisle said.

Caius thought about it. No, he couldn't skip it. The last step was as important as the fighting.

“Alright. I will leave this room for some time. You will be alone here. The door is open, anyone could enter. I want you to stay exactly as you are, until I come back. Can you do that?”

Carlisle took his time to think about it. It was absolutely not fine to be alone and exposed like this, before even the moon had risen to watch over him. He felt tired.

_Aro..._

“I can do that,” he said.

Caius walked out, went to find Wang, meaning to ask him if he had a specific day in mind.

Carlisle was trying to relax, to calm down, to unfocus his ears from Caius' presence, but he didn't succeed. He supposed it was because of the blindfold. All day long he depended on Caius' movements, words, position in space. He couldn't suddenly stop, he didn't have anything else to focus on.

Wang _had_ a specific day in mind.

Volterra was a strange place, Carlisle had come to realise very quickly. He had witnessed a number of actions he didn't exactly enjoy, including executions and blood festivals. He supposed the worst thing was that he had come to accept it all so easily.

Still, he tried not to listen, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair. He wouldn't be listening if it weren't for the damned blindfold. It was tempting, to move his hands and remove it, to be able to focus on his sight. But he resisted it. He tried to feel the light air on his skin, he tried to focus on the smell of the room, flooded with burned adrenaline and dust and spilled venom. It wasn't pleasant at all, but perhaps it could keep him distracted.

Caius moaned, somewhere in a far away room and Carlisle's ears perked up, singling out the sound.

Alright, the scents around him didn't help then.

_Aro..._

More sounds, this time he thought he could make out Wang as well, but the only clear one was Caius.

_He wanted that... with Aro._

And he didn't know what to do with that knowledge. He wanted the other man, it felt like his skin was itching for his touch. God, help him, he could imagine it all, and he _wanted_ it. That is why he was avoiding Aro, his mind was filled with inappropriate thoughts and he couldn't bear it if Aro touched him and saw. Where would he find the dignity to face him again? He would have to leave forever, and he didn't find that option particularly appealing.

God, he was tired. He was tired of pretending, he was tired of hiding, he was tired of denying, he was...tired.

Caius returned, a mess of scents and marks that would fade. Carlisle felt jealous, and hated himself a little for it.

“Carlisle, I have returned.” His voice had a different type of calmness. _Carlisle envied that._

“Did anyone disturb you?” he asked.

Carlisle shook his head.

“You have been excellent today, Carlisle.”

He was wearing his cloak again, clearly meaning to somewhat lower the days' lingering scents. He felt better now than he did in the morning about handing Carlisle a blade, so he had brought one with him, keeping it to his belt.

“You may lower your arms. Before I remove the blindfold, is there something you would like to tell me? About today, or in general,” he said. He couldn't wait to finish this and go rest. He wanted to sit down, but it probably wasn't a good idea.

“Caius,” Carlisle started, bit his words back.

“Please, be honest.”

Carlile supposed there wasn't any sense in pretending it would be rude of him to ask. “Caius, aren't you married?” he asked at last.

Caius stood silent. That was indeed unexpected. What prompted this? His mind raced through the possibilities, could it be... No... Oh, definitely.

“I am.”

Carlisle opened his mouth to say something, bit his tongue again.

“Please, be honest.” Caius prompted again.

“You are married to a woman, yet you-” he shut his mouth, deciding not to speak after all. “I'm sorry, it is not my place to question you.”

Caius thought he knew what this was about. It wasn't about him, it was about Aro. Aro's situation was very resembling his own. Aro was too, married to a woman and Carlisle wanted to get in his bed. Well, certainly more than that, but one couldn't ignore this either.

Funny, he thought, how at the end of the day all Carlisle could think about was Aro.

“The vows I have made to my wife are for her ears alone. However, they do not include monogamy,” he said, meaning to clear some things from the poor christian's mind.

He could almost hear the realisation find Carlisle.

_Oh._

His entire stance changed.

“Caius, I think I...”

The older vampire felt the day's tension return with a vengeance. Oh no... he didn't want to hear this. It was unfair. Why did he have to become the inbetweener in this?

“Yes?” He kept his voice comforting, encouraging.

“I think I love him,” Carlisle whispered. The words were too heavy to be spoken any louder.

Caius looked at the high ceiling of the room. Brilliant, perfect, spectacular. Now he would have to not let Aro touch him until the two idiots figured it out. Great. That is exactly what he had agreed to when he was suggesting this plan. Fantastic.

“Have you told him?” he asked, keeping his voice patient and accepting.

Carlisle shook his head. The movement was a little sad.

“You should tell him.”

“I'm scared. I've never...loved before.”

Caius chewed over his words. He was not made for this kind of job. Absolutely not. He didn't know what to say, how to ease the young ones' fears.

“First times can be beautiful.”

“What if I mess it up? What if I don't ever get another chance?”

Caius rubbed his eyes, _The absurdity of those who have idolized love..._

“It sounds to me like you are quite determined. You are already speaking of second chances.”

“Oh but Caius, he is so much _more_ than I am. I fear he will tire of me.”

Caius sighed, and decided that he wasn't going to rest soon. He might as well get comfortable. He lowered himself down, sitting on his heels in front of Carlisle.

“That is not true. You are quite something, and you are still becoming.”

“I think my late behaviour has driven him away.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He doesn't touch me anymore.” Carlisle sounded on the verge of tears.

 _Well, he is not wrong_ , Caius thought. _But he is only refraining because you jump at every touch._

“I think he is waiting for you to tell him he can.”

“Why would I not let him?”

_Is he serious?_

“Your past reactions prove that you are not very comfortable with physical touch. Part of today's plan was that the guards weren't allowed to touch you,” he spoke as if dealing with a not-so-bright man.

“He is different.” Carlisle's defense came immediately.

“Then you should tell him.”

Silence. Heavy, but _bearable_ silence.

Caius let the seconds pass, giving Carlisle enough time to speak again.

“You may remove the blindfold if you want,” he said when he judged the younger vampire wouldn't.

Carlisle untied the strip of fabric and let his eyes adjust to the dark room, falling back to sit on his heels, just like Caius. He folded the fabric on his lap, stealing glances at the older man, feeling ridiculous.

“So we're done?” he asked, messing with a corner of silk.

Caius shifted, taking the blade from his belt and presenting it to Carlisle.

“There was supposed to be another part. But I'm not sure it is worth it anymore.”

Carlisle eyed the weapon, a little defeated, a little scared.

“I would hand you the blade- it is made from werewolf bone, it can kill us- and I would sit here, as you were,” Caius said, leaving the implications unsaid.

“You would give me a chance to kill you?”

And there it was, ruining the subtlety of the act by stating the obvious.

“The point is that I would trust you not to,” Caius said, abandoning the last shreds of formality. He wanted to rest, he wanted a bath, he wanted to stop playing match-maker.

“Is my word enough? I promise I wouldn't,” a small smile crept up on Carlisle's face and Caius chuckled.

Yes, he believed him. There was no way Carlisle would even attempt to.

Another moment passed in silence, and Caius felt his skin itch now.

“Unless you have something to add, I think we are done.” He waited, wishing they were indeed done.

Carlisle nodded. And didn't look up when Caius stood. The leader couldn't leave like this. He reached one hand to the vampire still on the floor and pulled him up when Carlisle held it.

“Good night, Carlisle.”

“Good night, Caius.”

Caius turned to leave, he took the first step, and then the second and then the third- “Caius,” he stopped.

“Yes?” His voice remained polite and inviting, his role wasn't over before Carlisle felt it was.

“Do you think I have a chance?”

* *

The next day Caius went to find Aro as soon as he heard he was back.

“Brother, I see you are in one piece. Did everything go well?” Aro asked with an excited smile.

Caius was nearly fuming, “Talk. To. Him.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?


End file.
